Mobile firm says 5G can bring ‘boundless’ opportunities for city
THREE UK has vowed that 5G could benefit our health, education, employment levels and finances. The network provider is investing more than £2 billion over the next few years to deliver the next generation of mobile internet connection.
Head of radio design Anil Darji is confident the new and fast framework will provide fresh opportunities for Glasgow, and told us about the firm’s hopes for its impact.
He said: “Currently, there are talks of the network being used for remote teaching and training.
“In terms of health, the Scottish Government has said it’s investigating the possibilities of remote monitoring units within people’s houses.
“There’s even been talks about having remote operations too.
“With the right application, and if you’re happy to allow that data to take your information and monitor it, it could track the trends of your heartbeat and your whole body.
“The possibilities are endless but it takes the right work to support it.”
Three UK hopes the upgrade will give entrepreneurs a platform that they can use to their advantage.
Mr Darji explained: “I think it will generate more opportunity for jobs definitely.
“If you look at something like Uber, for example, it wouldn’t have existed if it wasn’t for 4G. It wouldn’t have been possible on a 3G connection.
“This is just an example of what we can hope for in the future with thanks to the framework.”
Speculation arose from critics after the network provider announced it would be partnering up with Chinese firm Huawei to deliver the new service.
Mr Darji said: “We’ve picked Huawei because they are technically one of the leaders in the world in this area.
“We work very closely with the government and took all their advice in terms of who we can work with. We would never have picked Huawei had we not have had that advice.
“The guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre is that the 5G equipment from HRVs should not be in more than 35 per cent of our sites and should not take more than 35 per cent of the traffic.
“Essentially Huawei cannot use the equipment in the core network.”
Users can access 5G at no extra charge but require a 5G handset to access the network.
There are currently sites in Cumbernauld, Summerston and Motherwell with hopes to deliver a further seven to the area by April.